What its the angle of the racket for a topspin stroke?

luis mendez Asked 13 years ago

hi, im a question, what must have to be the angle of my padle when im doing a top spin, i must have to open or close my angle, it is something that is crossing my mind lately because i usually hit the ball just flat, but i have been watching other players and i saw that they open their padle in the top spin. so please can you answer that question.

Jeff Plumb Answered 13 years ago

Hi Luis,

The angle of your bat for the topspin stroke depends a lot on what type of spin is coming at you and how fast you are swinging at the ball.

In general, if there is a lot of topspin on the ball coming at you, you need to close the angle of your bat to counter the topspin. Your stroke itself can use more of a forward motion. You want to brush the top of the ball to produce your own topspin.

If the ball has backspin on it as it is coming towards you, you want to open up the angle of your bat and use a more vertical stroke to lift the ball up. By lifting the ball you will counter the backspin. Again it is important that you brush up the back of the ball with your stroke to generate the topspin. It is the topspin that will give you a large margin for error in your stroke.

The other thing to consider is the speed with which your bat is moving as you contact the ball. The faster you swing, the more you will be propelling the ball forward and hence the more you need to brush over the top of the ball.

Let me know if this helps you out.